


Cycles

by wanderwings



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Post-War, Uchiha Sasuke Returns to Konoha, under the same sky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23460427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderwings/pseuds/wanderwings
Summary: Sakura finds the crescent moon on Sasuke’s palm. Sasuke discovers a goal far different from his last.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Cycles

The air circulating in Konoha Hospital was far from sterile, but it always smelled unusually clean. When the last shinobi war ended, however, the hospital staff found they couldn’t control the metallic odor of blood that now hung in the atmosphere like an unseen cloud. The nurses often wrinkled their noses and the utility personnel worked harder to rid the hospital of the smell of the aftermath of a difficult war, but nobody was complaining―the war was finally over and they were glad to tend to the wounded.

The clicking of heels resounded in the corridor as the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, walked briskly towards another ward, her eyebrows drawn together. Shizune, her assistant, walked beside her with the same fierce determination etched on her face. The Hokage’s apprentice, Sakura followed closely behind, her lips pursed in thought.

“Sakura, I want you to assist me this afternoon on Gai’s surgery,” Tsunade’s voice spoke authoritatively, disrupting her train of thought. “Shizune will attend to the wards.”

“Yes, _shishou.”_ Sakura replied, recalling Maito Gai’s injuries from the war. She had been told of the tale of his bravery in the battlefield, going so far as to use forbidden techniques at the expense of his own life. Owing to his prowess in _taijutsu,_ he had managed to go against Madara where others had failed. She was grateful Naruto managed to give him a spark of chakra before he completely burnt out and died. She herself administered first aid afterwards, and a tearful Rock Lee thanked her profusely. She was crying herself then.

She clutched the clipboard she was holding close to her chest, feeling the surge of memories from the war crash like a towering wave in her head. They had reached the foot of the staircase when Sakura halted. “Um, _shishou.”_

Tsunade inclined her head slightly to the side to indicate she was listening, but she continued up the staircase. Shizune turned to look at her.

“I’d like to visit _him_ first, if you don’t mind. I won’t take long,” Sakura said as a light blush crept to her cheeks. Shizune’s eyes brightened at this and she smiled.

Tsunade nodded imperceptibly. “Be sure to check on the orthopedic patients after. Also tell Lee to stay in his room and get some rest. How _hard_ can that be?”

Shizune shook her head. “Honestly, that boy. He wants to train already! Very much like his _sensei.”_

Sakura sighed. “When will they _ever_ listen to us?” She asked, turning on her heels and laughing quietly.

***

The door slid open and Sakura stepped in, her boots shuffling against the tiled floor. Her eyes scanned the room and they landed on the bed, which was empty. She felt her heart catch in her throat as the adrenaline of fear, so familiar it was like déjà vu, seized her. She remembered visiting him in his hospital room after the second part of their chuunin exam and finding the room empty.

 _Just like this_.

The familiarity of the scene held Sakura with an iron grip.

Did he flee again?

Did he escape from the village again?

Did he leave _her_ again?

Over and over, like they were trapped in a cycle?

She felt the stinging of bitter tears at the corners of her eyes.

 _Not like this again_ , she pleaded in her mind. Desperate.

“Sakura.” His voice came from behind her.

The clipboard fell with a clang to the tiled floor, its papers ruffled.

“Sasuke-kun!” She breathed, swiveling on her heels to face him. Relief swallowed her whole and for a moment she wanted to wrap her arms around him, propriety be damned, but she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “You’re still here.”

Except for the slight frown on his face, Sasuke merely looked at her in response. He had his back to the bathroom door.

Sakura swallowed, trying to rein in the sudden awkwardness that was saturating the atmosphere. It was easier back then when they were still children, when she was just a lovelorn girl and he an indifferent boy―when they didn’t share a past yet.

Now they did. They were long past the point of no return. Sakura knew there was no turning back to the past; there was only the present, the here and now.

She was at a loss for words.

The slight frown on Sasuke’s face disappeared and he stooped, ever so graceful, to pick up her forgotten clipboard which lay abandoned on the cold floor. The fingers of his left hand curled on a corner of the metal and he plucked the object delicately like it was a flower.

He straightened up and extended the clipboard towards her.

Sakura couldn’t help the smile that broke across her face, touching her green eyes. “Thank you,” she said, taking the clipboard from him.

Her eyes fell on the dark figure etched on the palm of his left hand. She cocked her head to the side, curious but at the same time worried. Her medical instincts were kicking in. Had she missed something when they brought him in after the war?

Was she so consumed with worry for him that she had overlooked a symptom?

Without thinking, she snatched his left hand before he could fully retract it. Sasuke’s dark eyes widened slightly, taken aback by her abrupt gesture.

Sakura held onto his hand with both of hers, an intense look present on her face. The dark figure appeared to be a crescent moon. It seemed completely harmless.

She missed it that first time she examined him.

Slowly, she let go of his hand and met his eyes. “When…?” She started to ask. She shook her head and decided to drop the subject.

“The Sage of Six Paths gave it to me,” Sasuke replied quietly. He was gazing at her intently.

She was surprised he answered her. “The Sage of Six Paths?”

He nodded before making his way around her and perching himself at the edge of the hospital bed. “Have you heard of him?”

“Yes, he’s said to be the one who created the ninja world. But isn’t he a myth?” She couldn’t help asking.

A wry smirk managed to find its way to Sasuke’s lips. “No, he actually lived.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks felt hot. She turned to look at the floor, her pink hair shielding her furious blushing from Sasuke’s penetrating gaze. She felt completely stupid. But she had grown up being told of the Sage’s tale and had been led to believe he didn’t actually exist in the first place.

“He created _ninshuu,_ the foundation of _ninjutsu._ He was the ten-tails _jinchuuriki.”_ At the last word, Sasuke tore his gaze away from Sakura.

Sakura shuffled on her feet. She knew he was thinking of Naruto.

She took a few steps closer and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay, Sasuke-kun.”

He looked up at her and, for the first time in his life, he actually wanted to believe that things were finally going to be okay.

She met his gaze with her green stare until he nodded and looked away. Sakura straightened up, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“The Sage had two sons, Ashura and Indra, who were both extremely different from each other. Indra valued power itself while Ashura believed in the power of cooperation and, ultimately, love. When the Sage favored Ashura as his successor, Indra refused to agree and that was the start of a long war which had reached even our very own generation.”

Sakura sat beside him on the bed, completely entranced by the story he was telling. She found she loved the way his dark eyes bore a look of concentration.

It had been a long time since she’d seen his eyes as anything but empty.

Sakura realized she was happy his eyes could be filled with emotion again.

When Sasuke didn’t continue, she realized he was looking at her with an unfathomable emotion on his dark eyes. She blinked; she had been leaning into him. The lack of personal space must have disturbed him.

“Sorry,” she murmured sheepishly, pulling away. “What do you mean the war reached our generation?”

Sasuke tilted his head to the side, his blue-black hair catching the fluorescent light. “The chakras of Ashura and Indra have transmigrated over time. Ashura has been reincarnated into Naruto and Indra―”

“Is _you_ ,” she finished in a whisper. Her green eyes widened but more from surprise than disbelief.

Sasuke nodded grimly.

“You mean to say, you and Naruto are really _supposed_ to be at war with each other?” She could hear the ache weighing down in her voice. Sasuke didn’t miss it.

Sakura shook her head, stubborn against the whole notion of this fate. They had fought, but for very different reasons. Now that things were resolved―Sasuke and Naruto had fought their final battle as rivals, gave it up at the last minute and acknowledged their friendship―this unjust fate was coming back, rearing its head as if it was entitled to wreck what was left of their bond. She realized she had tears in her eyes. “No…”

To her surprise, Sasuke laid his left hand on top of hers and squeezed gently. She met his eyes, incredulous.

“We put an end to that long war, Sakura. We broke the cycle,” Sasuke explained, his words like soothing balm over the wounds on her soul. “We refused to be like Ashura and Indra. And the Sage believed in us, trusted us to do the right thing, so he gave us his power. That’s why I have this.”

Sasuke turned his left hand up, the one that had been holding Sakura’s, and the crescent moon on his palm revealed itself, dark against his pale skin. She traced the crescent shape with a finger.

“Naruto has one on his right palm. A circle, that of a full moon.”

She looked up and beamed at him. “I’m so proud of both of you, Sasuke-kun,” she spoke through the tears freely falling down her cheeks now. “It was never easy, especially for both of you.”

Sasuke reached out to dry the dampness of her cheeks. When Sakura closed her eyes and smiled as she leaned into his hand, her radiance shining out from a well deep within her, he realized her tears were of happiness.

Sakura took his left hand again and laid it on the space between them.

“I remember, the night you left, there was a crescent moon,” she said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

His lips set into a thin line at the reminder. “There was,” he affirmed, and Sakura thought she could detect a hint of sadness in the air where his words had been. That gave her the courage to look up at him.

“Because of that, every time there is a crescent moon, I am reminded of you.”

Sasuke’s head hung low. She reached out to tip his chin gently so that he was facing her. “It’s thanks to that crescent moon that I never once forgot that we are still under the same sky, Sasuke-kun.”

His dark eyes, previously so empty, shone bright with something akin to hope.

“I had always hoped you would come back. Always. Sasuke-kun, you helped us win the war. You broke the cycle of hatred. You are here.” She brought his palm to her lips and kissed the crescent shape gently, her lips brushing his skin like feathers. “Thank you.”

At the touch of her lips, it was like something in Sasuke finally clicked in place.

He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her closer, closer, until he could kiss her forehead, right where her yin seal glinted, iridescent, under the fluorescent light.

Sasuke allowed himself a smile when he realized that, after spending so long in the darkness, his goal was finally, _finally_ in the light.

**Author's Note:**

> Another one of my old oneshots from 2014 which I wrote prior to the ending of the manga. As a result, Sasuke still has his left arm here.
> 
> I always thought the crescent moon was a meaningful symbol Sasuke and Sakura shared, so I wanted her to discover it. After all, they have always been under the same sky. 🌙


End file.
